Bentley 4.5 Litre Supercharged

Key facts

Year

1930
Country

Great Britain
Capacity

4,398cc
Cylinders

4 cylinder
Valves

Overhead camshaft
Output

175bhp at 3,5000rpm (Birkin racing cars 240bhp at 4,200rpm)
Performance

90mph
Price new

£1,395 (1930 price for sporting four-seater model, reduced from £1,750)
Owner

National Motor Museum Trust
Manufacturer

Bentley Motors Ltd, Cricklewood

One of only fifty production supercharged, or ‘Blower‘, Bentleys built. These were developed by renowned Bentley racing driver Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin who felt the standard 4½ litre car lacked power compared with foreign rivals. The Roots type supercharger was designed by Amherst Villiers. The five Birkin racing cars met with only limited race success.

Company founder W O Bentley disapproved of Birkin’s ideas, stating that “to supercharge the Bentley engine was to pervert its design and corrupt its performance”. Over half of the production cars were fitted with Vanden Plas four-seat tourer bodies like the Bentley team cars. The car on display was originally fitted with a stylish Vanden Plas drophead coupe body. Like the other survivors, it was later re-bodied as an open tourer.

Bentleys won the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930.